Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

Early Amazon investor John Doerr is convinced Jeff Bezos will roll out Prime Health at CNBC.Read more

Sam’s Club planning to build corporate childcare facility by Paul Gatling at Talk Business. “Sam’s Club wants to build its development on land it owns at 2300 S.E. S St…expected to be about 17,500 square feet and will hold about 170 children including infants, toddlers, 2-year-olds, pre-K and kindergarten prep.”Read more

…Sam’s Club new layout center opened yesterday “The new building replaces the existing 134,000-square-foot layout center in Springdale, inside a former Sam’s Club store…Shelley Latham, a senior merchant in the toy category, said she spends about 30% of her time at the Springdale layout center. “Sixty-five hours a year is saved just by having the new building across the street,” she said…“This is a game changer for us.”Read more

Iceberg lettuce prices soar as much as 168% after E. coli outbreak takes romaine off shelves at CNBC.Read more

Holiday’s hot toys already in short supply at big-box retailers by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “The big problem, according to industry insiders, is that Walmart, Target and Amazon lack both the aisle space and the appetite for risk that would be needed to fill US demand for toys this year…Adrienne Appell, a spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association: “Many of them didn’t anticipate that items would go as quickly as they have already.”Read more

Jim Cramer sits down with Dollar Tree President and CEO Gary PhilbinVideo

Walmart’s NYC Delivery Push Suffers Loss of Divison Chief by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “Jesse Kaplan, who sold his last-mile delivery startup to Walmart last year, “has decided this was a natural point for him to step down,” Alyssa Ciambriello, spokeswoman for Walmart unit Jet, said in an emailed statement. Chief Operating Officer Jackson Fratesi will now lead Parcel and its more than 200 employees, she said.”Tiered subs.

Neiman Marcus Talks With Debt Holders End in Stalemate by Katherine Doherty at Bloomberg. “Initial talks between Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and its debt holders are at a standstill over the fate of one of its most promising assets, MyTheresa, according to people familiar with the matter. The retailer and some of its creditors failed to agree on the early reworking of Neiman’s $4.7 billion debt load.”Tiered subs. | WSJ article (subs.)

**A message from the 3-Foot Circle – The golf training aid that gets you down in two shots from the edge of the green.Video/Info

Mental health clinic opens inside a Walmart in Texas at NBC Today.Video/Read more

Nashville reverses course, releases original Amazon incentives by Sandy Mazza at The Tennessean. “Earlier this month, Mayor David Briley’s office declined to release the original HQ2 offer, signed by Barry in September 2017. But after repeated requests from the community, Briley “decided in this instance to provide it,” according to a statement released to the media.”Incentive details

J. Crew scraps budget line; Amazon deal in doubt by Khadeeja Safdar at MarketWatch. “J.Crew Group Inc. will discontinue its budget clothing line called Mercantile and shut down the newly launched Nevereven brand…The elimination of Mercantile calls into question J.Crew’s deal with Amazon.com Inc., which currently sells only Mercantile products.”Read more

AT&T details plans for Netflix-style streaming service at NBC Today.Read more

NOT LEAVING – Hundreds of Family Dollar workers are opting not to move to Dollar Tree’s HQ in Virginia by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. “About 210 Family Dollar employees in Matthews have agreed to move to Dollar Tree’s headquarters in Chesapeake, Va., representing approximately 30 percent of the local workers who were offered to do so, Dollar Tree said.”Tiered subs.

Starbucks says it will start blocking porn in 2019 at NY Post.Read more

Netflix, Disney or Amazon: Who Wins the War for Streaming in India? at Hollywood Reporter.Read more

Why GameStop sold its AT&T wireless stores and lowered its full-year forecast by Maria Halkias at Dallas News. “GameStop cut its full-year profit forecast Thursday saying sales of pre-owned merchandise fell 13.4 percent and it took a charge to lower the value of the company.”Tiered subs. | Press release

Report: Jack in the Box courting potential buyers by Mike Freeman at San Diego Tribune.Read more

Target gives shoppers advance notice of its annual 10% off gift cards by John Ewoldt at Star Tribune. “…the sale starts and ends Sunday, Dec. 2 in stores and on Target.com…minimum gift card purchase is $10 and the maximum purchase is $300.”Tiered subs.

“Amazon Teen” is targeting kids on Snapchat by Jeff Beer at Fast Company.Read more